18G1.J 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
379 
ing a coat and overcoat at what appeared to be 
remarkably low prices, viz.: $9 50 for the two. 
They were of thick heavy cloth, and apparent¬ 
ly well made, and I went home much pleased 
with my bargain. Upon showing them rather 
proudly to the tailor who had usually made my 
clothing, he smiled, and said “ shoddy.” 
“ What’s shoddy ?” I asked. 
“ It’s worn out cloth made over again,” was 
the reply. And I soon found that the cloth had 
indeed been worn out before I bought it, for in 
a very few weeks, the garments were out at the 
elbows, split open in the back, and ragged in 
the skirts. I have since learned that the tailor 
was right. Shoddy is made of old woolen rags, 
old stockings, etc., which are picked to pieces, a 
little new wool is mixed in, and then spun over 
and woven. By careful dressing, a very fair 
looking cloth is made, but the wear was mostly 
taken out of it the first time it was used. Per¬ 
haps my experience may be of service to some 
others who may be tempted by a low price to 
buy a dear bargain. Countryman. 
St. Lawrence Co., N. Y. 
a -- 
Keeping Milk in Hot Weather. 
When first drawn from the cow, 1000 pounds 
of milk contain nearly half a pound of free so¬ 
da. (The average amount is 42-100ths of a pound, 
or 2940 grains—about 6 grains of soda, by weight, 
to the quart of milk). This alkali serves to keep 
the casein, or curd, in solution. After a time, 
lactic acid is produced, which neutralizes the 
alkaline soda, and the casein being no longer 
held in solution separates, or “curdles.” When 
quick curdling is desired, as in cheese making, 
an acid is added, or what is the same thing, 
rennet is used, which acts as a ferment rapidly 
producing an acid. When it is desirable to keep 
milk sweet, or uncurdled, we have only to stir 
in a little extra soda, say a bit of cooking soda 
hardly so large as a common pea for a quart of 
milk—the amount to depend upon the w r eather, 
and the time the milk is to be kept. The small 
amount of soda required will not affect the taste 
of the milk, or its healthfulness—it only serves 
to keep it in its natural alkaline condition. 
Removing Stains. 
Ox-gall is an excellent article for removing oil 
stains from delicate colored fabrics. It often 
fixes and brightens colors, bu't will slightly soL 
pure white materials.-Alcohol, or strong 
whiskey, washes out stains of oil, wax, resin, and 
pitchy or resinous substances; so also does 
spirits of turpentine, and generally without in¬ 
jury to colors. The turpentine may afterwards 
be removed with alcohol or whiskey. Common 
burning fluid, which is a mixture of alcohol and 
turpentine (or campliene,) is an excellent sol¬ 
vent of oil, wax, tar, resin, etc., and it soon 
dries off after use.——Ink stains, or iron mold, 
may generally be removed with the juice of 
lemons or of sorrel leaves. If these fail, oxalic 
acid is almost infallible. Moisten the stain spots 
with water, and rub on a little powdered oxalic 
acid which can be cheaply obtained at any drug¬ 
gist’s. Wash off the acid very thoroughly, soon 
after it is put on, or it will eat the fabric. If 
children are present, remember that oxalic acid 
is poisonous in the mouth, though not so on the 
hands, if not kept long upon them.-Moisten¬ 
ing a cloth, and holding it for a few minutes 
over the fumes of burning sulphur, will bleach 
out most colors and stains. Be careful not to 
burn the fabrics. The fumes maybe conducted 
to any particular spot by a paper roller in funnel 
shape, (or a common tin funnel,) held over the 
sulphur burning upon a shovel. The sul¬ 
phur fumes are specially applicable to stains of 
fruit, and of vegetable juices generally. These 
may frequently be removed by dipping the fa¬ 
bric in sour milk and drying it in the sun, re¬ 
peating the operation several times if needed.— 
All oily substances (except the paint oils) can be 
expelled from carpets by holding a very hot iron 
as near as it can be placed without burning. 
Porous paper or common brown paper laid upon 
a grease spot, and run over several times with a 
hot sad-iron (“ flat iron ”) will absorb the oil. 
Greening Pickles -with Grape Leaves. 
It is usually considered very desirable by 
housekeepers that pickled cucumbers, mangoes, 
etc., should be of a deep green color. They 
taste no better, but they look nicer. It is well 
enough to improve the appearance of food pro¬ 
vided it be not at the expense of healthfulness. 
In the usual method of “ greening ” pickles, the 
desired color is imparted by the presence of an 
active poison. Various cook-books give direc¬ 
tions to place the pickles in a brass or copper 
vessel, pour hot alum water over them, and let 
them remain until of the desired color: that is 
until the salt of copper, verdigris, has acted upon 
them sufficiently. No, no, Messrs, cook-book 
makers, don’t advise people to do any thing of 
the kind. Pickles in their best estate are suf¬ 
ficiently difficult of digestion, and the verdigris 
will not help the matter. 
Mrs. Haskell, in her Housekeeper’s Encyclo¬ 
pedia, gives the following process for greening 
pickles, which is entirely free from the above ob¬ 
jections. We have not seen it tried, and al¬ 
though the method does not strike us favor¬ 
ably, it may answer the purpose—Mrs. Haskell 
ought to know; at any rate the experiment 
is easily made and will not injure the pickles: 
“When packing the cucumbers in salt, line 
the barrel, bottom and sides, with grape- 
leaves, and pack between the layers of cucum¬ 
bers a quantity of the fresh leaves, until the bar¬ 
rel is full. When salted through, remove them 
from the brine, and pour boiling water upon 
the pickles, several times. If not the desired 
color, line a tub in the same manner that the bar¬ 
rel was prepared, and pack the pickles with a 
large quantity of the leaves. Heat vinegar boil¬ 
ing hot, pour it over the pickles, and cover them 
tightly. If, the next morning, they are not suffi¬ 
ciently greened, drain off the vinegar, reheat it, 
and pour it again over them; repeat the process 
until of the color desired. When they are suffi¬ 
ciently greened, pour over them hot vinegar; if 
they taste of he vine leaves, change the vinegar 
utter a week. 
- - — --~ -- 
Cooking Eggs. 
A correspondent of the American Agriculturist 
writes: “ If eggs are boiled 3 to 3) minutes, the 
yolks have a raw taste, and they are too mussy. 
A much better way is to put them into water 
just a little too hot to bear one’s fingers in it, 
and set them where they will not get very hot; 
let them remain about fifteen minutes, when 
the yolks will be nicely cooked, and the whites 
will be very soft and nice, but not soft enough 
to have a disposition to get away. To tell when 
they are done, whirl one with the thumb and 
finger. A cooked egg will whirl like a top, but a 
half-done egg will stagger like a drunken man. 
To fry eggs.—Grease a straight edged dish 
with a little butter; pour them into it, and set 
them into a moderately heated oven. Do not 
let them cook too much.” 
Remark. —Our correspondent evidently has 
not learned to enjoy eggs rightly cooked. They 
should be “mussy,” as she terms it. The proper 
and healthful mode of eating eggs is with i\ 
spoon, from an egg-glass, tumbler, or teacup, 
and they should never be cooked so hard that 
they can not be stirred with a spoon. Tlnn 
cooked, and spiced with a little salt, and peppet 
if this is used, they have a rich buttery taste, 
instead of the hard, dry, or mealy taste result¬ 
ing from hard boiling, whetj they need butter ta 
make them go down. It takes some time foi 
one used to hard boiled, indigestible eggs, to 
learn to eat them soft boiled, but the latter are 
enough better to pay for the learning. We 
have long since tried the change, and on no ac¬ 
count would go back to the old mode. 
Corn 'S'cast. 
Contributed to the American Agriculturist , by 
Mrs. L. Gilbert, Jones Co., Iowa : Brown a pint 
of corn as if for coffee; pare four middling sized 
potatoes; add a handful of hops, and boil the 
whole in two quarts of water two hours. Take 
out the corn; rub the potatoes through a colan¬ 
der, and then strain the liquid. Add 1 teacup¬ 
ful of salt, 2 of sugar, 1 of yeast, and warm wa¬ 
ter enough to make two gallons; let it stand 
lukewarm twenty four hours; then bottle, and 
cork tightly. One teacupful of this yeast will 
raise two large loaves of bread, and it will keep 
good for three months. 
ICoot Beer. 
Mrs. L. D. Kendall, sends the following recipe 
to the Country Gentleman: For 10 gallons of 
beer, take 3 pounds common burdock root, 1 
pound dandelion root, \ pound sassafras root, 
or 1 ounce essence sassafras, i pound good hops, 
1 pint corn roasted dark brown. Boil the whole 
in G gallons pure water until the strength of the 
materials is obtained; then strain while hot 
into a keg, adding enough cold water to make 
10 gallons. When nearly cold add clean mo¬ 
lasses or syrup until palatable—not sickishhj 
sweet. Add also as much fresh yeast as would 
raise a batch of 8 loaves of bread. Place the 
keg in a cellar, or other cool place, and in 48 
hours you will have a keg of famous, healthy, 
sparkling root beer. 
Tomato Pickles. 
Contributed to the American Agriculturist by 
M. C. Monk, Norfolk Co., Mass.: Slice green 
tomatoes and put them in salt and Avater for 
three or four days. Scald them in alum Avater; 
then place a layer in the bottom of a jar and 
sprinkle on a little sugar, allspice, and cin¬ 
namon ; put in another layer, sprinkle as be¬ 
fore, and so on until the jar is nearly filled, and 
cover the whole with scalding cider vinegar. 
Clove Cake. —1 lb. flour; 1 lb. of sugar; 1 
lb. raisins; £ lb. of butter; wine glass ol 
brandj r (?); 1 teacupful of cream; a teaspoonful ol 
cinnamon, 1 of cloves, 1 of nutmegs ; 5 eggs, 1 
teaspoon ful of saleratus. 
---- 
If you would rise as far as possible above the 
brute creation, cultivate your thinking, reason¬ 
ing faculties, for it is thinking and reasoning 
that makes the difference, not only betAveeu 
man and brute, but also between man and man 
Sidney Smith says marriage resembles a pa.' 
of shears, so joined together that they can nr 
be separated. They often move in opposite di 
rections, yet ahvays punish any one who cornea 
between them. 
